One Wish
by hersheygal
Summary: If there were such things as Genies, this was the time that Kate needed one. Jate with hints of Skate and Jacket. AU. Future Fic.


One Wish

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: This is set four years in the future. Reviews would be appreciated!

Kate sat outside her tent. Strands of her hair fell into her face, but she let them be. It was early in the morning. Most of the people were asleep, and she envied them. She wished she could sleep, but she couldn't. The night before, Sawyer had accused her of not caring about herself anymore and not loving him. He had brought Jack into it, and she had run out of the tent. She'd run away from him before, but he had always chased after her. This time, he didn't.

Kate had spent the night in the jungle. The Others were no longer a threat, and the monster left them alone, so she knew it was safe. When the sun had rose, she had returned to the tent she shared with Sawyer. She sat outside of it, not sure of what to do.

Down the beach, she heard a shriek of delight, and she turned her head, watching a little blonde girl, of about four, running down the beach. Her mother emerged from a tent, calling her name. "Rachael! Come back here!" When Rachael didn't listen, Juliet ran after her and scooped her up in her arms.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm hungry Mommy!"

"Okay, okay. Let's go get some mangos then okay?" Juliet set her daughter on the ground, smiling at her. She was such a miracle. They still weren't sure how it had happened, but Juliet had gotten pregnant, she knew it was a risk, but she wanted to try, and she had the baby in the middle of the night. She was as healthy as any other baby, and Juliet had survived.

They all referred to the baby as the miracle baby, and no one was more proud than her father.

Kate looked at the tent that Juliet had come out of, watching as Jack slowly lifted up the flap and stood outside the tent. He yawned tiredly and his hand ran through his hair. His hair was a bit longer than it used to be, and he had a beard, but he still looked the same. He still had those piercing hazel eyes that burned a hole through Kate's soul every time he glanced at her, which wasn't as often anymore.

Jack walked over to the water trough with a water bottle. Then he went down to the ocean and stood knee high in it, splashing water onto his face, as if he'd done this routine millions of times before.

He then turned around and Kate quickly looked away.

They hadn't talked to each other for a long time. They avoided each other whenever they could. There was too much pain. Sun had asked Kate why she wouldn't try to repair the solid friendship that she had once had with Jack, and Kate had told her that it was just too hard.

It had been four years ago when they had their last long conversation. They had resorted to staying on the island after the freighter never showed up. They had realized that the island was their home now, and they'd be lost if they had gone back to the real world. So they stayed, uninterrupted. They had mingled with the Others, some of them stayed with the survivors, and other people, like Locke, stayed with the Others. Although Locke still believed Jacob had a special plan for his life. Ben and Locke got along fine, but Ben always treated Jack coldly whenever they crossed paths because of Juliet.

Kate would never forget that day. Jack had approached her a couple of days after they had gone to the radio tower.

(Flashback)

"Kate," Jack called to her. She was in the kitchen, cutting guava when he had come to her.

"What?"

"I was thinking that we need to explore more. You want to come?"

Kate looked at him. He was actually inviting her on one of his missions? She was still in shock from when he had told her he loved her, but now she could see that he really meant it.

Jack put both of his hands on the kitchen and leaned on them, hoping she couldn't see that he was a bit nervous.

"Sure, I guess. Where are we going?"

Jack smiled at her. "I don't really know."

"Okay, well when do I need to be ready?"

"Can you be ready in an hour?" Jack asked.

"Sure. What-, how long are we going to be gone?"

"I don't know. As long as it takes I guess."

"Well we do have all the time in the world you know."

"Right." Jack looked down.

An hour later, Kate met Jack out on the sand, a backpack ready and her hair up in a ponytail.

"You ready?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. Where's everyone else?"

"There isn't anyone else."

"It's just us?"

"Yeah. I figured it'd be better if it was small. You can track, and I can treat you if you get hurt, so we're good."

"What about Sayid?"

Jack shook his head. "It's just us."

"Okay." Kate smiled a little.

Kate followed Jack as they started walking into the jungle, but then Jack turned around and saw that she was walking behind him, so he waited for her to catch up, then he walked beside her.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Kate asked.

Jack shrugged. "Anything significant I guess."

"Oh okay, well that narrows it down." Kate said sarcastically, watching as Jack smiled.

He looked at her, and she returned the glance.

"You know, Kate. I meant what I said."

Kate swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?" She asked, even though she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Kate's heart sank. He knew her too well.

"If you don't want to talk about it, fine, but I just need to know. If you tell me, right now, that you don't love me, then I'll leave you alone and let you live your life with Sawyer. I just need to know."

Jack stopped and waited for Kate to say something. She looked anywhere but at him as her heart beat faster and faster.

She did love him. He made her feel like she could do anything, like she could be anything. She knew she could trust him with anything and now she knew that he loved her back. But at the same time, she didn't want to risk hurting him again, and she knew that if she told Jack she didn't love him, she could at least control how much she hurt him. That way, she was certain that she wouldn't hurt him again. If she told him she loved him, then she could almost guarantee that she would hurt him again.

"Kate." Jack said softly, and Kate looked up at him, tears filling her eyes.

"Jack, I-"

"I understand." Jack quickly said. "I just needed to know."

Of course, his main concern would be to make her feel better about it, which made her feel even worse.

"Please Jack, you can't ask me this." Kate pleaded with him. She hated lying to him. It obviously destroyed him.

"No Kate, you're right. I shouldn't have. I should have known, but a part of me hoped that you loved me, but it's okay. We can move on from this, still be friends." He tried to make the situation better, but they both knew that they would never be the same friends they had once been.

"I'll see you later Kate." Jack voice cracked and he turned his back to her as he began to walk away.

"What about the hike?" Kate's voice came out strained, as she fought tears.

He stopped. "Forget about it, there never was one." He then continued walking, as Kate burst into tears.

With each step he took away from her, Kate's heart broke more and more. And for a second, Kate wondered if it was possible for her to admit to him that she did love him. They could try to do it, work on a relationship, and her heart stopped. She started to run towards him. "Jack!"

"Jack!" Kate called for him desperately.

He turned around, looking at her, and Kate could see the pain in his eyes.

"Ka-"

Kate silenced him quickly as she thrust herself into him, kissing him hard.

He returned the kiss, as she put his arms around his neck and kissed him desperately, feeling safe for the first time in weeks.

As much as Jack wanted to hold her forever, Jack didn't understand, and he needed to.

Jack gently pushed her away, and Kate softly moaned in objection.

"Kate?" Jack whispered, their foreheads touching as they gasped for air.

Jack looked at her, and Kate removed her hands from around his neck as they broke apart. Tears silently streamed down her cheeks as she took his hand in hers. "I can't." She whispered painfully.

"You can't what?" Jack matched her tone, still reeling from her kiss.

"I need you to understand."

"I don't."

"You will."

Jack ran his hand through her hair and she covered his hand with hers and closed her eyes.

He wiped away her tears with his thumb. "Why won't you just let us try?"

"I don't want you to get hurt." Kate whispered, ashamed.

"I already am hurt."

"I'm sorry. I just can't." She let go of his hands, and looked at him before she ran away.

Jack just watched her, speechless. He didn't know what to think.

(End Flashback)

After that, Jack had decided to move on, and he and Juliet became very close. Kate was glad that Jack had moved on, and she moved on with her life with Sawyer. It had been difficult, and it still was.

Kate still loved Jack, and she knew that he still loved her. But neither of them spoke of it.

Kate slowly stood up, careful not to hurt her back. She rested her hands on her back to support it as she walked over to the water trough. She watched as Rachael ran towards her father.

"Daddy!"

Jack caught his daughter in his arms. "Hey baby. Did you sleep well?"

"Yup daddy! Can I play with Aaron?"

"Of course you can, but not before you give me a kiss!"

Rachael kissed Jack on the cheek, and Jack set her down. "Have fun."

Juliet met Jack, and she gave him a long kiss. "Hey."

"Hey." Jack smiled at her.

"You've got something on your face." Juliet pointed out.

Jack sighed. "I know, I need to shave."

"Yes, you do." Juliet grinned at him. Their hands intertwined as they walked down the beach together.

Kate sighed, and she fought the lump rising in her throat.

She slowly made her way to the kitchen, where she grabbed a mango.

And then, suddenly, it happened. Her water broke. Kate gasped, and leaned onto the makeshift counter.

"Ja-Jack!" Kate screamed. "Help!  
"What's going on?" Hurley asked as he walked by. "Dude!" He realized what was going on.

"Go get Jack!" Kate yelled at him.

"O-Okay." Hurley ran as best as he could down the beach.

"Jack!"

"What?" Jack and Juliet turned around.

"Kate." Hurley gasped for breath.

"What about Kate?" Jack's heart skipped a beat.

"She's having the baby man!"

"What?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"She's in the kitchen!"

Jack broke into a run. Jack reached the kitchen and immediately went to Kate.

"Kate, I'm here. I need you to stay calm." Jack tried to stay calm himself. Just because Juliet had had her baby successfully, didn't mean that Kate was going to.

"I'm trying!"

"Okay, we need to get you into a tent. Can you walk?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, hold onto me."

Suddenly, all of their arguments were forgotten as Kate held onto Jack's arm tightly, more for comfort than anything else.

"Okay, we're going to put you in Sun and Jin's tent, sine that it the closest." They still called it Sun and Jin's tent, even though they had both died. Sun died while she was pregnant, and Jin had been shot by an Other a long time ago.

Kate and Jack went into the tent.

Kate sat down on the bed, and Jack knelt beside her.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I'm having a baby." Kate glared at Jack.

"Where's Sawyer?"

"In our tent."

"Hurley, go get Sawyer." Jack told him as Hurley and Juliet came into the tent.

"Okay." Hurley said eagerly and then left. Pregnant women made him nervous.

It became awkward in the tent as Jack began to talk to Juliet about what to do.

Kate sat silently, clasping her hands together, praying for Sawyer to come soon.

"Okay Kate, we need you to lay down."

"Jack." Kate pleaded with him.

"I know. Kate, I know." Jack said grimly.

Kate laid down. She really didn't want Juliet delivering her baby, and Jack knew that.

"I'll go get some towels and some other things." Jack stood up, and Kate immediately protested. She grabbed Jack's hand and stopped him. "Don't leave me."

Jack looked down at her. She looked so scared and alone.

"Okay, I won't." Jack knelt beside her again. "Depending on how the contractions go, it may take a while for the baby to come."

Sensing that Kate wanted to be alone with Jack, Juliet softly murmured something about checking on Rachael and left, even though Jack and Kate didn't notice at all.

Hurley suddenly ran into the tent, panicked. "Sawyer's not in his tent! He's not anywhere!"

"What?" Jack exclaimed.

Kate's heart sank as she realized that he must have gone looking for her in the night.

"Okay, we'll just have to go on without him. Hurley, get me some towels and water."

"Okay." Hurley left the tent again, and Kate closed her eyes as a few tears escaped from her closed eyelids.

Jack squeezed her hand tightly. "He'll be here Kate. I'll send some people to go look for him, and he'll be here. I promise."

"It shouldn't be like this." Kate whispered.

"I know."

"No you don't." If Kate had one wish, she'd wish to go back to the start. Go back to the beginning. Or even better, go back to before the crash. Maybe she would have gotten on a different plane, so that she would have never met Jack and Sawyer. Then they would all be better off.

But she couldn't go back. This was it. This was her life now. She was going to have Sawyer's baby, and then they would live their lives the best as they could.

That night, she would have the baby. And fifteen years later, her son and Jack's daughter would fall in love while Jack and Kate would continue to pretend to love someone else, when deep inside, they would never be complete without each other.


End file.
